National Football League

The Panel Q&A: Tim Couch sees difference-makers in show's prospects

Published Mar. 25, 2016 12:54 p.m. ET

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FOX Sports South's Emmy Award-winning original series The Panel presented by Chevrolet returns Sunday, March 27, at 9 p.m. ET, with episodes featuring high-profile NFL prospects in Duke's Jeremy Cash, Ohio State's Ezekiel Elliott, Clemson's Shaq Lawson, Georgia's Keith Marshall and Florida State's Jalen Ramsey answering questions from former NFL standouts. Tim Couch, a member of The Panel and the No. 1 pick in the 1999 draft, sat down with FOXSportsSouth.com to discuss the show and the prospects.

FOXSPORTSSOUTH.COM: When you look at this crop of guy coming in, who were you impressed by?

TIM COUCH: I think the obvious guy is Jalen Ramsey, a guy that is up on the top of the draft boards and a potential No. 1 overall pick and no worse than a top-5 guy. He's a difference-maker. I think he's one of those guys, especially since it's a passing league now, if you can have a guy like him, he's got great length at the cornerback position. He's got long arms, great speed, great range, really good ball-skills, a complete corner. He can come up and make tackles as well.

I think he's a difference-maker and he'll make an immediate impact at the next level.

FSS.COM: You saying it's a passing league now, what does that do to a guy like Jeremy Cash, who is facing questions about whether he can handle man-coverage? Does that push him toward the line of scrimmage?

COUCH: It's hard to get a read on him, because they didn't ask him to do those things while he was at Duke. So it's hard to say he can't do them because he's such an athletic guy. You would think that he could grow into that role if that's what he was asked to do. But he's so physical and has such great instincts around the ball and is such a sure tackler, that you want him around the line of scrimmage as kind of an extra linebacker and a more athletic guy that plays with speed.

I think it all depends on where he goes and where he's drafted and how teams decide to use him, but I think he's athletic enough to cover tight ends and some running backs out of the backfield. I don't think you want him covering a fast, speedy receiver in the slot out in space, but I think there are situations where you can use him in the pass game. But first and second down, very aggressive against the run.

He can fit into a defensive scheme in the NFL, for sure.

FSS.COM: You've got to like the instincts, just watching him on tape the way he reacts?

COUCH: Obviously a smart guy and he sees things. A tremendous amount of film study allows him an opportunity to break on the ball even faster. He makes a lot of plays at the line of scrimmage. He had 33 out of his 98 tackles last year were for two yards or less. That's impressive. That tells you he's at the line of scrimmage and he's reading and reacting very quickly and making plays.

The thing that impresses me the most about him is he's such a sure tackler out in the open field. He gets guys to the ground. You see so many missed tackles in football now, guys taking wrong pursuit angles and poor technique. This guy, he's very solid and fundamentally sound.

FSS.COM: In terms of the running backs, Ezekiel Elliott, everyone knew what he was capable of at Ohio State. His saying after the Michigan State loss that he wanted more carries, how does that play into an NFL team's perception of someone like that?

COUCH: I think you kind of want your running back to have that attitude. You want your best receiver to have that attitude. Probably poor timing (on Elliott's part) to say that right after a game and you don't really want to say that in public, that's something you talk about behind closed doors and talk about with the offensive coordinator, head coach or whoever is calling the plays. But I like the attitude and I like the aggression.

I think Ezekiel's a confident guy and he just feels like he gives them a better chance to win the more he touches the ball and he's probably right. I think there's ways to go about it when you want to voice your opinion on something like that.

FSS.COM: Was that workhorse capability what you liked out of him?

COUCH: That and his long-range speed. You see him breaking away from guys and breaking long runs and not getting caught from behind and that's obviously important at the next level. He's a complete back, a guy that can do it all, and he'll probably be the top back drafted.

FSS.COM: I'm not sure how much you've seen of Keith Marshall, but when he came to Georgia he was ranked higher by the recruiting services than Todd Gurley, T.J. Yeldon, Kenyan Drake. With the wear and tear on a running back going into the NFL draft, how much do you think it helps him that he came back, put up big numbers in the combine and doesn't have that mileage on him?

COUCH: That's a great point. Everyone's looking at mileage on these running backs and the physical wear and tear that they take. He hasn't been hit a lot, playing behind Todd Gurley and the injuries.

Certainly he's had his moments at Georgia, and he's a guy that could contribute right away to an NFL team. A highly-recruited guy out of high school and he's an interesting guy; had a great combine. He can be a great addition to an NFL team, maybe come in on third down, get him the ball in space and let him use his speed. I'm sure he has confidence coming back from knee injury and watching what Todd was able to do in such a short amount of time and the impact he's made in the NFL team.

It's always good when you see a guy, a teammate, a friend of yours that you see go onto the next level because it gives you confidence that you can do it as well.

FSS.COM: How do you, Takeo and Dre get along, because watching you together, it always seems like you do a great job of bouncing off each other.

COUCH: We've known each other a while and we've worked together before. I think there's a good chemistry there and we talk a lot before the show about what we want to talk about and the topics we want to get into, so we kind of know the direction that each individual wants to get into. So I think it's great.

It's fun to work with those guys again. They're both so knowledgeable. Takeo played so long at such a physical position. I have so much respect for him and played with him a lot, and Dre was just a big-time playmaker when he was in the NFL.

So those guys have a lot of experience and a lot of knowledge and it's great for these college kids to get a chance to talk to guys that have played in the NFL, been in their shoes and have done the things they are trying to do.

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